Silicon Valley Founders Base and Cornell University have established a partnership for a business incubator center in Shanghai.

Silicon Valley Founders Base and the university signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 22 at Cornell's Ithaca, New York, campus, for the center that will open in June.

Channing Bi, founder and CEO of Silicon Valley Founders Base, said the center will focus on business start-ups, innovation and technology, and will seek scientific and technological enterprises with ``international influence".

"We are aiming to help small- and medium-sized start-ups as well as IPOs, solve potential problems that emerge during the entrepreneurial process, " Bi said in an interview. "For example, legal solutions could be provided to Chinese start-ups seeking access to the US market."

Dean Michael Kotlikoff of Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine said, "In particular, we are focusing on the critical areas of food safety, food security, and business development."

Food safety is one of the biggest concerns of the Chinese public. "Since Cornell has the world's leading faculty in food-related fields, the cooperation with the university's College of Veterinary Medicine in academic teaching and training would have far-reaching impact," said Bi.

A key part of the training, research and consulting to be done by Cornell will be on ecologically based agricultural practices that will be promoted for large-scale application in China, according to Bi. The university also will conduct research for new dairy products and focus on dairy-food safety and quality, according to the MOU.

"The incubator center, with its goals and dedication to attract the smartest business start-ups from all over the world, would bring their avant-garde and innovative ideas to China," said Bi.

xiaolixin@chinadaily.com.cn